Denver, Sunday, October 09, 2016 - As Hurricane Matthew continued its path of destruction up the southeast coast, the American Red Cross expanded its massive sheltering effort to span five states. More than 13,400 people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia woke up Sunday morning in 248 Red Crossand community evacuation shelters.

Across five states, more than 13,400 people woke up Sunday morning in 248 Red Cross and community evacuation shelters:

·In North Carolina, 80 evacuation shelters with over 4,000 people

·In South Carolina, 61 evacuation shelters with over 4,500 people

·In Georgia, 34 evacuation shelters with 4,500 people

·In Florida, 72 evacuation shelters with more than 340 people

·In Virginia, one evacuation shelter with 25 people

Colorado and Wyoming Red Cross Disaster Responders Step Up to Help

To support the response and recovery effort the Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming will be sending people and equipment to the affected region.

Three Emergency Response Vehicles (ERV) will depart Monday, October 10, at 9:30 A.M. from the Mile High Area office, 444 Sherman St., Denver, along with six crew members. The vehicles and teams will travel to Durbin, GA to support the delivery of food and supplies to those neighborhoods hardest hit by the hurricane.

By the end of the day Monday, the Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming will have activated 22 people to support the relief effort. Many f those will serve to help people in the shelters. Others will be doing support work such as food and supply delivery, resource management, asset protection, logistics, emotional support and health services, client casework and community partnership coordination. One of those volunteers activated will be serving virtually from Denver to support social media activities.